by Kerstan Szczepanski
Culinary Union workers employed by Sodexo/Centerplate at the Las Vegas Convention Center unanimously voted to authorize a strike. With negotiations ongoing, a strike date has not yet been set. The union, part of UNITE HERE, which represents some 300 workers at the convention center, including banquet servers, concessions cashiers, cooks, dishwashers and others, held the vote December 7 and 8.
“I’ve worked at the Las Vegas Convention Center for 20 years and I voted yes to authorize a strike because we deserve wages that are equitable and have parity with the Las Vegas Strip,” said Pearl Rodriguez, a coffee server at Sodexo/Centerplate at Las Vegas Convention Center. “I’m extremely inspired by the past. We are standing on the shoulders of everyone that came before us. I think back to the Frontier Strike and what those workers had to endure and the fight that they had over their very long strike. They set an example for us. We are not second-class and we will strike if there isn’t a fair agreement.”
Wages are not the only issue affecting UNITE HERE workers. Job retention, with less than 50 percent of February’s 2020 numbers being employed by Sodexo in August 2022, is a major concern. The convention center had more conventions in fiscal year 2022 than fiscal year 2019. Sodexo workers who are currently employed are doing more work with fewer workers. Combined with inflation, they are doing more work for less pay.
With many contracts expiring, Sodexo is challenged with strike authorized negotiations in Las Vegas and Orlando, and union members in New Orleans, Sacramento and Detroit are watching closely. The next few months will prove challenging for convention centers across the nation.
